Monday, May 19, 2014
Resident Bilked Out Of Money Through Sweepstakes Scam
Residents Bilked Out Of Money Through Sweepstakes Scam
Local residents reported to authorities last week that they had been bilked out of hundreds of dollars through a sweepstakes.
Both victims, a forty-eight year old female resident of Fair Street in Leoma and a seventy-three year old resident of Byrd Road, reported to deputies with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department that they had been contacted by a person claiming to represent Publisher’s Clearing House.
Both victims were informed that they had won a sweepstakes prize package including $950,000 and a new car. They were instructed to send the callers $1,200, “To insure the money.” They were told to purchase four Greenpack cards worth $300 apiece at Dollar General Store as payment.
The female victim told deputies that she informed the caller that she did not have $1,200. He then asked her to send $600. She said that she told him she did not have $600 either and that he transferred her to a man who said he was from the IRS. She told the man that she did not have $1,200 at which point she said he “got hateful with her.”
The victim told deputies that she made a stop at Dollar General in Saint Joseph where she purchased a Greenpack card and put $499 on it. She then gave the card number to one of the men who had contacted her.
The victim said that the callers asked her to send the remainder of the money on other cards, but that she told them she had no more money to send. She said that she later received a call from a man who identified himself as Michael Miller. He told her that he was a Fed-Ex driver, was in Lawrenceburg, and had her prize on his truck. He then read her a claim number.
The victim told deputies that she had numbers from three different telephone calls she had received. She said that at the time she had not noticed that the calls originated from Jamaica.
The male victim told deputies that after receiving the calls he purchased a card worth $250. He said that the individuals called him back wanting four more cards and that he complied, sending them four cards worth $300 apiece. Altogether, the victim said he was bilked out of $1,450.
The crimes presently remain under investigation through the department’s Criminal Investigation Division.
Residents are reminded that should they receive such a call they should confirm whether they have been targeted in a scam before sending any money. They are advised to contact the sheriff’s department at 931-762-3626 or the police department at 931-762-2276 to verify the legitimacy of the caller’s claims.
